AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
7 December 2015
Philippines: Government must tackle rampant police torture epidemic
Amnesty International to testify before Senate hearing
Torture at the hands of the police in the Philippines continues with alarming frequency while those responsible are almost always allowed to evade justice, Amnesty International said.
The organization will give evidence to the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights on torture in the Philippines tomorrow Tuesday 8 December. Exactly one year ago, Amnesty International released a major report on the issue - Above the Law: Police Torture in the Philippines – as part of its global Stop Torture campaign.
“We very much appreciate the opportunity to give evidence to the Philippines senate, but it will not be easy listening. One year after our report, very little has changed – police torture is still rampant across the country with impunity, and not one perpetrator of torture has been convicted since the enactment of a landmark anti-torture law in 2009. Now is the time for the government to act,” said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s South East Asia Campaigns Director.
Amnesty International urges the Senate to immediately establish the National Preventive Mechanism which is currently filed before the Congress and Senate, and to establish the Oversight Committee as provided by the Anti-Torture Law Act to ensure that there are genuine criminal investigations in torture cases by police.